Happy Birthday KLD!

If it's July 31, must be time for a pool party!!







We love you, sweet 9-year-old KLD!

Eat Our Bubbles!

Loving our swimmers!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

We are so thankful for Grandma, who turned *70* on July 19! We celebrated lots, with visits from Uncle Andy and Aunt Tresa, and an upcoming visit from Uncle Keith and co.
Happy Birthday Grandma; we love you so!





Two cakes and counting...

Happy 4th of July!

Something to Ponder

Got this today from the always wise and thought-provoking Michael D. O'Brien:

"When he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth"

“In the course of the ages two great revolutions have shaken the earth; we call them the two Covenants. The first one caused people to pass from idol worship to the Law, and the second, from the Law to the Gospel. A third upheaval is predicted: that which will transport us from below to above, whereupon there will be no more movement or disturbance. Now these two Covenants both share one same characteristic..: neither of them suddenly caused an instantaneous transformation... They were not to force but to persuade us. For what is imposed by force does not last...

“The Old Testament manifested the Father clearly and the Son obscurely. The New Testament has revealed the Son and hinted at the divinity of the Spirit. Today the Spirit is alive in our midst and is making himself know more clearly. It would have been hazardous, so long as the Father's divinity was not recognized, to preach the Son openly, and so long as the Son's divinity was not acknowledged, to impose... the Holy Spirit. One might have feared that, like people who are surfeited or like those who stare at the sun with weak eyes, believers would have run the risk of losing what they had strength to bear. So the glory of the Trinity had to shine out in successive steps or, as David says, ‘from strength to strength’ (Ps 84[83],8) and progressively, from one degree of glory to another...

“I would like to add one further consideration: our Savior knew certain things that he considered his disciples would be unable to bear in spite of all the teaching they had already received. For the same reasons as I said above, he kept these things hidden. And he emphasized that when the Spirit came, he would teach them all things.”

~ Saint Gregory Nazianzen (330-390), 5th Theological Discourse.

Top 20 Things I Learned on My Summer Vacation

1. Watch out for tornados (no kidding)!

2. Hiking in wet Tevas will give you a blister.

3. Getting a large group campsite is the way to go for our 3 tents and dining fly.

4. There actually are plenty of bugs already by the first week of June.

5. Daytime temps can get into the high 90s in Wisconsin in June.

6. Adding a wee bit of adventure helps even middle-schoolers love camping with the family. :)

7. Wisconsin is SO beautiful!

8. I love my sweeties!

9. After camping together for a week, there was a noticeable reduction in sibling fighting for the rest of June (no kidding!).

10. Fishing is harder than it looks.

11. Ugly orange life jackets are sometimes super cute.

12. Fishing poles work well as lightsabers.

13. WWD is a great Grillmaster!

14. The beach is bliss on a 90-degree day.

15. "Almost-level" ground for your tent site isn't.

16. One large jug of electric blue lemonade for Mom and Dad is not enough for 4 days.

17. Check the weather report one last time right before you leave.

18. Pudgie-pie irons are worth the investment. We love the double ones and recommend splurging on high quality. :)

19. Swarms of bug bites can scar your arms for the rest of the summer.

20. In spite of blistering heat, bugs feasting on us, a tornado passing through, and a damp, steamy tent, this family camping trip was really, really fun.

What a great start to a picture-perfect summer! I love my happy campers!!